The Amphitheater in Trier was built by the Romans some time in the 2nd century, A.D. The floor of the Amphitheater measures almost 500 feet across; this is where the gladiators fought and the wild animals were released to tear each other apart.

Here’s the entrance:

And here’s what it looks like from the fighting floor.

The Amphitheater was built to accomodate 20,000 spectators! Inside, it looks about the size of the American Airlines basketball arena in Miami, and it holds about the same number of people.

In Roman times, Trier was the 5th largest city in the world with a population at its peak of 80,000 – that’s bigger than North Miami or Gainesville!

Here’s the arena from the top. The stone seat bleachers were removed in the 1600s.

Spectators were allowed to enter the Amphitheater through the front gate and through two side gates. We went in through the one of the side gates which allowed us to enter at floor level.

Once on the floor, we went down some steps to the area below the floor where they kept the wild animals, and possibly the gladiators, before releasing them onto the floor for battle.